Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) was an American emo band from Michigan. It was formed in 2006 originally as a solo project of band member Keith Latinen. The band's music is most often described as emotional indie rock reminiscent of '90s emo bands such as Mineral and American Football. The band's first release was in 2007 with an EP titled When The Sea Became A Giant. The band released a full-length album, What It Takes To Move Forward, in 2009. The band is signed to Count Your Lucky Stars Records and has released albums on a number of other labels, such as strictly no capital letters (UK), Topshelf Records, Stiff Slack (Japan), and Hobbledehoy Record Co (Australia). The band released their second album You Will Eventually Be Forgotten on August 19, 2014. On February 16, 2016, the band announced their final tour before their breakup on their official Facebook page. History 2006–2008: Early Years Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) was started as a solo project by Keith so that he "could get good enough to record" for his and Cathy's current project called Anna Flyaway. After they stopped making music under Anna Flyaway, they continued on with the new project. In January 2007, Empire! Empire! self-released their first LP titled When The Sea Became A Giant on CD. Later, they would re-issue it on their label Count Your Lucky Stars Records. 2009–2013: What It Takes To Move Forward In September 2009, the band released their first studio album titled What It Takes To Move Forward on Count Your Lucky Stars Records. A few months later, a Japanese version would be released on Stiff Slack records which included alternate cover art and 2 bonus tracks. Following their album release, the band went on a short US tour in 2010 with various supporting bands. Vulture.com listed "Keep What You Have Built Up Here" as number 87 of the 100 greatest emo songs. Beginning in March 2012, the band went on a West Coast tour of the US with Warren Franklin, followed by a month-long tour of the United Kingdom in November with fellow Michigan band The Reptilian. The tour included stops in Ireland and Scotland. In April 2013, Empire! Empire! returned to Europe for a tour supporting The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. 2014–2016: You Will Eventually Be Forgotten 5